Characters
The following is a list of characters from the Junjou Romantica: Pure Romance manga/anime series. Junjo Romantica Misaki Takahashi ' Misaki Takahashi (the uke of the Romantica couple) is the eighteen year old tsundere (nineteen years old in season one of the anime and, by the thirdseason, twenty-one going on twenty years old) younger brother of Takahiro. At the start of the series, Misaki is about to sit for his college entrance examinations. His dream is to attend the fictional Mitsuhashi University since that was the college his brother turned down in order to care for Misaki after their parents died when he was eight years old. Although he seems childish and brash, Misaki is simple be a person who is very much determined not to be any source of trouble for anyone else. This is due to his silent guilt that he believes he is the cause of his parents deaths (believing that if he had not asked them to hurry home, they would not have sped in the rain and crashed). Misaki and Usagi eventually begin a full-fledged relationship together, which often confuses Misaki due to his inexperience in romance and being unsure of how to handle his feelings towards the older man. After he moves in with Usagi in the pilot episode, different struggles continue throughout the story with Misaki emitting his "Usa-mones", his self-made term due to attracting Haruhiko, Kaoruko, Usagi's father, and even captivating a non-Usami Ijuuin-sensei whom he helped during his suffering a deep depression. Currently, Misaki is a graduating student of Mitsuhashi University and has since been accepted in Marukawa after a total of four interviews. '''Akihiko Usami ' Akihiko Usami (the seme of the Romantica couple) is a twenty-eight year old (thirty year old in the third season) popular author of fiction and erotic BL (Boys' Love) novels, as well as the youngest recipient of the distinguished Naomori Award. His nickname is "Usagi", which means "rabbit" in Japanese. A close friend of Misaki's older brother, Usagi initially serves as Misaki's tutor for his upcoming entrance exams. While his affections for Takahiro go unnoticed, he remains one of Takahiro's closest friends. Usagi is also revealed to be childhood friends with Hiroki; just as Usagi's affections for Takahiro goes unnoticed, however, Hiroki's early affections for Usagi also went without notice, though the two remain good friends. Shortly after meeting Misaki, he discovers that Takahiro has become engaged; seeing how upset this makes Misaki on Usagi's behalf, Usagi realizes that he loves the younger brother and labeled as "The One" and, after Misaki moves in with him after Takahiro moves away, the two eventually become lovers. He makes a cameo appearance in the first episode of the anime adaptation of Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi, the spin-off to Junjou Romantica. Ritsu Onodera, the central protagonist of that series, was Usagi's editor prior to transferring to Marukawa Publishing. In the anime, Misaki doesn't know that Usagi had a relationship with the professor Hiroki Kamijou. 'Haruhiko Usami ' Haruhiko Usami is Akihiko's thirty year old half-brother (they have different mothers). He is generally cold and disapproving towards his brother, though no one really knows why. After a brief appearance in the middle of the series, he begins proclaiming that he "loves" Misaki, but that was only after he found out how close he and Akihiko were. When he begins sending Misaki flowers and saying that he would take Misaki as his own, Akihiko claims that Haruhiko was "always trying to take his things." '''Takahiro Takahashi Takahiro is Misaki's twenty-eight year old brother and Usagi's long-time friend. He was the subject of Akihiko's affections for a long time, though he never seemed to notice as he is shown to be extremely naive. He is extremely caring towards his younger brother, who refers to him as "Niichan," even dropping out of school to support Misaki's studies after their parents died. Early in the series, he becomes engaged to and marries Kajiwara Manami. They soon move to Osaka due to his job, at which time Misaki goes to live with Usagi. Keiichi Sumi ' A senior college student at Mitsuhashi University and Misaki's friend, Keiichi Sumi is a very mysterious young man; while it is usually hard to tell whether he is being serious or not, he is not viewed as a bad person. The son of famous novelist Ryouichi Sumi, Keiichi is also a member of the university's Onsen Research Group (ORG) which have been known for generations as makers of Japan's most terrifying haunted house. He is first introduced trying to lure Misaki away from Akihiko, fueling Akihiko to intervene. Afterwards, once Akihiko and Misaki admit their feelings for one another, Keiichi frequently creates problems between the two, suggesting to Misaki at one point that there might be something between Akihiko and Aikawa (as she had a key to his apartment). He later reveals that he was merely using Misaki to get closer to his true object of affections, Akihiko; despite this, the two remain close friends, showing that he does care for Misaki. '''Eri Aikawa ' Eri Aikawa is Akihiko's editor, as well as a friend to both him and Misaki. She is roughly the same age as Akihiko and is constantly pushing him to finish his work on time. On the exterior, she seems like a kind and nice-mannered person, but when Akihiko does not hand in his manuscripts on time, she is famous for freaking out and even, on one occasion, attacking him. A fan of Akihiko's work, as Misaki notes that Aikawa sometimes acts like a fan girl when she is around Akihiko and Misaki; in fact, Akihiko reveals that many scenes from his novels are Aikawa's own personal requests, a fact that seemed to surprise Misaki. '''Fuyuhiko Usami The father of Akihiko ("Usagi") and Haruhiko, as well as uncle to Kaoruko, Fuyuhiko Usami loves both of his sons equally and wants what is best for both of them. However, he is known to become quite ruthless in his need to accomplish that. Like his youngest son, Akihiko, he is very fond of bears and enjoys the art of woodcarving. He owns a successful business and is often seen carrying rubber ducks. It is briefly mentioned by Akihiko that Fuyuhiko was adopted. Kaoruko Usami ' Kaoruko Usami is Akihiko's cousin on his mother's side (though she has the same last name as Akihiko's father). Akihiko did mention once that his father was adopted, so it is possible that Akihiko's mother is a blood relative of the Usami family, including Kaoruko Usami. A 20-year-old aspiring pâtissier (pastry chef), Kaoruko came to Japan after she was told her parents had fallen ill; however, this is revealed to be a trick on the part of her uncle Fuyuhiko, who wished for her to marry Haruhiko in an effort order to separate him from Misaki. As time progresses, however, Kaoruko claims to love Misaki, as she has the "same taste" as Akihiko. '''Mizuki Shiiba ' Mizuki is Akihiko's 25-year-old cousin from his father's side of the family. He has returned from America to visit Akihiko, freeloading off of his cousin while living in Akihiko's apartment. While he is shown to be quite attached and friendly to Akihiko, he comes off as very cold and hostile toward Misaki. Also, his seemingly romantic interest in Akihiko incites jealousy in Misaki. His hostility towards Misaki is later revealed to be on account of his romantic feelings for Kaoruko and he was acting flirtatious towards Akihiko deliberately to annoy Misaki. 'Shinnosuke Tōdō ' Shinnosuke is Misaki's friend and classmate. He is attending Mitsuhashi University as a law student with aspirations of becoming a police officer in the future. He is also a member of the Kendo club. He met Misaki when he picked up The☆Kan phone strap that Misaki had dropped and the two easily bond over their shared love for The☆Kan manga. 'Kyō Ijuuin ' Kyō Ijuuin is the creator of Misaki's favorite manga, The☆Kan. Whenever the deadline for his next manga installment is near, he becomes incredibly pessimistic. According to Isaka, it is disputed as to whether The☆Kan is in first or second place in terms of sales at Marukawa Publishing. Misaki first met him at Marukawa when Kyō was in one of his pre-deadline funks, with Misaki giving him the motivation to continue by telling him how much his work meant to him. Later on, Misaki was selected in a lottery to meet him again for an autograph signing, then realized it was Misaki who encouraged him 3 years ago. Kyō is a bachelor who, when cleaned up, is shown to be a considerably attractive man. The majority of his fans are said to be women. * 'Tanaka ' Tanaka is the butler for the Usami household, often mistakenly called "Sebastian" by Misaki. (This is a joke based on the Japanese pop-culture stereotype of "Sebastian" as a typical name for a butler.) Junjo Egoist 'Hiroki Kamijou ' In the anime, Hiroki Kamijou (the uke of the Egoist couple) is 29 years old, a long-time friend of Akihiko's, and an associate professor at the fictional Mitsuhashi University. He is a bit of a loner and is extremely passionate about classical Japanese literature, apparently having graduated at the top of his class. Hiroki initially loved Akihiko, his childhood friend. Six years prior to the main events of the story, he took advantage of Akihiko's unrequited love for Takahiro, convincing him to wear a blindfold as he pretended be Takahiro. Hiroki hoped that once Akihiko was intimate with him, his feelings would change, but Hiroki soon realized that he could never be with Akihiko as long as he was in love with Takahiro. He sympathizes with Akihiko, however, for just as Akihiko yearns for Takahiro, Hiroki pines for Akihiko. Soon afterwards, Hiroki would meet Nowaki Kusama, a student four years his junior who refers to him as "Hiro-san." Over the next six years, Hiroki and Nowaki fall in love with each other, but their personal dreams seem to get in the way of their being together. Their story arc focuses on their attempts to start over after Nowaki returns from his study abroad. In the series, he serves as an example of the tsundere character archetype: he has a bad temper and is feared among his students, who refer to him as "Devil Kamijou," though he is shown to be one who is actually quite shy and who becomes flustered easily. Misaki later makes a reference about his "difficult Japanese literature professor" later on while on a date with Akihiko. 'Nowaki Kusama ' Orphaned as an infant, Nowaki Kusama (the seme of the Egoist couple) was abandoned at an orphanage during a heavy rain storm; as a result, he was named "Nowaki" ("typhoon" in Japanese) by the head of the orphanage, though elders seem to refer to him as "Wacchan." Six years before the main story, Nowaki first comes across Hiroki when he finds Hiroki crying about his unrequited feelings with Akihiko. After inviting him to spend the afternoon with him and his friends (the elders mentioned earlier), Nowaki goes on to insist that Hiroki become his tutor. Originally studying to become a social worker, he changes his mind and is currently in training to become a pediatrician. Kind, understanding, and patient, Nowaki shows these traits most often while he is around Hiroki. As Nowaki is four years younger than Hiroki, this fuels a desire in him to quickly catch up to Hiroki (mostly career-wise), as he believes Hiroki deserves someone who is his equal. He shows unrelenting devotion and love for Hiroki, never giving up on them even when Hiroki seems oblivious to it. Despite his age, Nowaki is actually much taller than Hiroki, a fact that initially irritated the older Hiroki. 'Tsumori ' Nowaki's senior in the hospital whom Nowaki often consult to. He immediately knows what kind of relationship Nowaki has with Hiroki the first time he met Hiroki. He and Hiroki shares a rather cold relationship due to a misunderstanding when Hiroki found him and Nowaki sleeping together on the floor, naked. Although having no romantic feeling towards neither Nowaki nor Hiroki, he likes to tease on their relationship (being clingy to Nowaki, making Hiroki jealous). 'Shinoda ' A real estate agent, Shinoda met Hiroki while trying to get him to sign a real estate contract. He and Hiroki had a brief romantic relationship while Hiroki was dealing with his feelings for Akihiko. He makes a short appearance and is only in the manga. Junjo Terrorist 'Yō Miyagi ' In the anime, Yō Miyagi (the seme of the Terrorist couple) is a 35-year-old literature professor at Mitsuhashi University and co-worker of Kamijo Hiroki. He was once married, but is now divorced, though this is most likely due to his indifference toward feelings and emotions. Miyagi is often playful when it comes to teasing Hiroki, with whom he shares an office at the university, though his true character is seen to be far more serious due to an event from his past. He once tried to kiss Hiroki after noticing something was bothering him, but he was stopped at the last minute by Nowaki, who had come searching for Hiroki. Nevertheless, Miyagi seems to be supportive of Hiroki's relationship with Nowaki, stating that as long as Hiroki was happy, he would be happy for him. Miyagi's primary love interest in the series is introduced as Takatsuki Shinobu, his former brother-in-law who is several years his junior. 'Shinobu Takatsuki ' Shinobu Takatsuki (the uke of the Terrorist couple) is an 18-year-old high school student and the son of Mitsuhashi University's dean of literature. Shinobu believes it to be fate that he is in love with his former brother-in-law, Yo Miyagi, though would very much like Miyagi to take responsibility for Shinobu falling in love with him. He is often blunt and unreasonable, though he is shown to have a softer side. 'Sensei ' She was Miyagi's deceased high school teacher. Miyagi says he often gave her a tough time before developing an unrequited love towards her. When her health started to deteriorate, Miyagi often took care of her despite his feelings not being reciprocated. When seeing how strongly he felt toward her, she told him that after her death if her memory proved to be an emotional burden then to forget about her, saying how she wants him to live a full and happy life with someone he can truly love. Junjo Mistake '''Ryūichirō Isaka Ryūichirō Isaka (the uke of the Mistake couple) is the 32-year-old senior managing director of Marukawa Publishing and a childhood friend of Haruhiko. He and his assistant Asahina are the main characters of the short comics released with the DVDs, "Junjou Mistake," which takes place ten years before the main Romantica storyline. Isaka initially aspired to become a novelist, though he eventually found his true talent in finding future best-sellers. In the anime adaptation, he first appears interrupting Akihiko and Misaki while they are on a date. Isaka later appears in the spin-off series Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi, which centers around the relationship between Ritsu Onodera and Masamune Takano at Marukawa Publishing. 'Kaoru Asahina ' Kaoru Asahina (the seme of the Mistake couple) is Ryūichiro's assistant who came to work for the Isaka family when they helped the his family out of a bad situation. Originally intended to be Isaka's playmate, he ended up becoming something more of a caretaker. Category:Characters